What is he doing here? I walked towards him as I saw him talking to the nurse who obviously looked smitten by his mere presence. Ugh! The nerve of that flirty nurse.

I rested my hand on his shoulder like he usually does to me. He flinched, as if shocked.

“Jiyong?” I called.

He turned towards me. He looked dumbfounded and pale at the same time. Why? I quickly rested my hand on his forehead. He felt fine. It wasn’t fever.

“What are you doing here?” both of us asked at the same time.

He chuckled. “You first.”

I can’t possibly tell him that I’m here because of a mission right? I have to think of an alibi, ASAP.

“Well, Jaejoong is with me.”

“Jaejoong’s with you?” he asked.

Omo. I said the wrong words. But I don’t want to lie and what I said so far wasn’t a lie.

I nodded carefully. “Yes.”

“What are the two of you doing here?” he scrutinized.

What? What are we doing here? Oh, heck! I have to lie.

“Jaejoong visited his family here. And he brought me along with him.”

“What are you doing here in the hospital?” he asked further.

“Didn’t you hear the explosion?” I asked. “We were there. That’s why I got a cut here,” I said, pointing to the cut on my face. “And Jaejoong was badly hurt because he was protecting me.”

He was silent for a while like he was absorbing the words I just said. Or maybe he was thinking about something else?

“If I was there I would have never let you get hurt,” he said after a while.

“Jaejoong was there,” I assured him. But I guess it was a wrong move. It looked like he was pained.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“What are you sorry for?” I asked him, placing my hands on both of his shoulders. Then there was that pained look again. “Is there something wrong?” I then placed my hands on both of his face and made him look me in the eyes.

He shook his head and then turned to the nurse again. The nurse gave him a flirty smile and then she turned to me looking smug.

Jiyong held on to the paper that the nurse gave her. Then he turned to me again and interlaced his fingers with mine. He smiled down at me.

I turned my head towards the nurse who looked surprised with our interlaced fingers. I stuck my tongue at her. Okay! When did I get this side of me?

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked as we started walking away.

“Nothing,” he said.

“What are you doing here anyways?”

“Oh, yeah. I was visiting a friend.”

“What’s that paper you’re holding?” I asked again, pointing to the paper.

“I fainted a while ago. And this is my prescription,” he said.

“Are you alright? What happened? Why did you faint?” I continually asked.

“I fainted because I got lack of sleep last night because I was thinking of you. But, I’m fine now, don’t worry,” he said patting my head.

After he bought the medicine on the pharmacy, we headed towards the emergency room where Jaejoong was.

“Jae!” I called as I saw him sitting at the bench outside the room.

He looked up and stared at me then to Jiyong. Then back to me. He stood up and grabbed my hand that was holding Jiyong’s and pulled me away from him.

“Jae! Let go of me!” I struggled.

Instead of letting me go, he just went on dragging me away from Jiyong.

“Jae! It hurts!” I complained.

“Let her go!” Jiyong’s booming voice said as he held onto Jaejoong’s shoulder.

Jae stopped and let go of me roughly. He turned to Jiyong and pushed him on the wall.

I gasped as I saw Jiyong’s hurt face. Jaejoong looked more buff than Jiyong. And stronger too! That’s why he got hurt when his back slammed on the wall.

“Jae! Stop it!” I shouted as I pulled Jaejoong off Jiyong. But he was too strong.

Jaejoong let Jiyong go after a while of glaring contest with Jiyong. Then he turned to me and took my hand. He dragged me away again.

“Jae! Just stop this nonsense already!” I shouted.

He turned to me without letting my wrist go. “You are not going out with that monster again!”

“You are not the boss of me!” I shouted at his ace.

“You are not going out with that guy anymore and that’s final!”

I pulled my wrist off his grasp and ran towards Jiyong.

“Try me!” I told him as I held on to Jiyong.

He then walked towards me again as he tried to pull me away Jiyong but I slapped his ace.

“That’s enough of your nonsense!” I shouted.

But he was able to pull me off Jiyong.

“We’re going home,” he said in a softer tone.

“We don’t have a car, remember?!”

He stopped.

“I’m going to drive both of you,” Jiyong offered. “I’m going home too anyways.”

“I’m not stepping on your car!” Jaejoong said turning to him.

“We are!” I interrupted.

“We are not!”

“Then I won’t go home!” I said stomping my feet childishly.

“We are taking the bus!”

“We are not!” I said stubbornly. “We are going with Jiyong!”

“Then you go with him alone!”

“I can’t let you go home alone!”

“Then let’s take the bus!”

“NO! I’m staying here instead!” I said as I folded my legs and sat on the ground.

Jiyong pulled me up but I remained unmoved.

In the end, we took Jiyong’s car. There was an awkward silence the whole time we were on the road. No one dared to talk. Even Jiyong didn’t. I sat on the front passenger seat while Jiyong was driving and Jaejoong was alone at the back seat.

My eyes darted to the rearview mirror and caught Jaejoong dozing off on his seat.

“Stop the car,” I ordered Jiyong.

Hesitantly, he did. And I stepped off the car.

I went beside Jaejoong and rested his head on my shoulder.

When Jiyong drove the car again, I could notice his eyes on the rearview mirror that kept on looking at both me and Jaejoong.

“Get that jealousy off your eyes. It doesn’t suit you,” I told him.

He chuckled. “I’m not jealous. You’re mine anyways,” he said showing off the screw driver necklace around his neck.

After Jiyong sent me and Jaejoong home – and by home, I meant, Sajang-nim’s home – and after I tucked him in on his bed in his apartment, I immediately headed to the NIS Headquarters to report to Sajang-nim.

“Did you get something?” Sajang-nim asked me the moment I stopped talking.

I nodded and handed him the files. “He was head-to-head with Senator Lee Kyung Wan when he ran as mayor in Gyeongju for the second time but he lost.”

“How about the scandal that Jaejoong mentioned?” he asked.

“I haven’t found about it yet, but I plan on questioning Senator Lee Kyung Wan because I think he knows something that can help us.”

“Do you firmly believe that he’ll cooperate with us?”

“We’ll use every tactic possible,” I said.

He put the files down and stared at me. “You know very well we can’t do that, unless we’re sure he’s involved in this. If we’re wrong with accusing Senator Lee Kyung Wan, we could be in trouble. Therefore, we cannot do what you have in mind.”

I nodded defeated. “I understand, Sajang-nim. I have other plans in mind anyway.”

“Okay, then.”

There was an awkward silence in the room. Until I decided to break it.

“I’m… taking my leave then.”

“Stay for a while,” he said with his authoritative voice.

I sat on the chair across him.

“Do you have anything else to tell me?” he asked, leaning closer.

I furrowed my eyebrows. What is he talking about? I just finished my report.

“I heard from Jaejoong,” he said when I didn’t answer.

He heard from Jaejoong? About what?

“Don’t you think being in a relationship will get in the way of your agent career? Do you really love the guy?” he asked when I remained silent.

I stood up so suddenly, he leaned back to his chair. “There is nothing wrong with me being in a relationship. All these years, I have been looking for that certain comfort I haven’t felt from you. But I only felt it from him. And now, you dare question me with my feelings for him?”

He calmly stood up to level his gaze with mine. “I might have been lacking with showing the care you wanted to feel as a father, but I’m doing this for you.”

“Doing what for me?” I demanded. “Use my will of avenging my family’s death as my motivation so I could work for this company and make you richer?”

He pounded his fist on the table. “I’m not using you!”

“Then stop meddling with my personal life. As my father, if you want me to find happiness, just stop meddling with my business!”

I stomped my way out of his office. I headed to the company’s underground club and chugged down on a bottle of beer. But I immediately put it down because I know I’ve got no time to waste.

I headed towards the office of the techies. I needed them to accomplish something for me.

“JVK 341,” I stated to them the moment I entered. “Look for this particular motorbike.”

“Agent Dara,” Agent Seungri said, he was part of the techies. “This might be a hard task to accomplish since there’s no GPS attached to it or something. We might have to look for it with our own eyes. Technology would not be helpful in this case.”

I crossed my arms on my chest and thought. “Okay then. Tomorrow, come with me to Gyeongju.”

“What?!” he gasped audibly that the whole room heard it. “You’re taking me to-“

“Shut up or else I’m going to change my mind,” I said as I headed towards my office.

I sat behind my desk and brought the documents Jaejoong and I got from the local government hall.

Senator Lee Kyung Wan.

Even though he’s already behind bars and under our care, was it possible for him to be involved in this? Was he able to escape one night inconspicuously and then return right away? Besides being Senator Noh Seunghwan’s rival on the position for mayor, was there another connection between them?

Surely he knows something that could help us accomplish this case. But Sajang-nim clearly ordered me not to question him using all the possible methods to get information from him, but I can’t help but have hope that he could help us. Will he cooperate then?

I sat there as millions of questions swarm my head. Most of the time, same questions would pop up. I would think of a possible answer, but it doesn’t’ help at all.

I stood up from my chair the same time my phone rang. I picked it up since it was from Jiyong.

“Hey,” I greeted casually.

“Arrrrggghh!” he groaned. “Can’t you be sweeter when answering my call?”

“Teach me how,” I said, as a smile started being glued on my face.

“Call me baby,” he said with a hint of teasing in his tone.

“What? No way! That’s too corny,” I said.

“That’s okay!” he said.

“No way!” I stomped my feet, pouting.

“I’ll call you baby girl,” he said.

“No way! That’s way too cheesy!”

“Baby girl…” he said, teasing.

“No!”

“Baby girl, I miss you so much, baby girl…” he said.

“Jiyong!” I warned.

“I’ll stop if you call me baby boy,” he said. I could just picture him stifling a laugh.

“Baby boy?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, baby girl?” he asked. Oh crap! He caught me.

I groaned. “That’s too cheesy!”

“It’s okay baby girl,” he said, sounding like he was comforting me.

“Why did you call anyway?” I asked, avoiding the cheesy topic.

“I can’t sleep,” he said. “How about you? Why are you still awake? It’s one in the morning.”

One in the morning?! How long was I sitting here in my office?

“You still there, baby girl?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. Um, I was preparing to sleep.”

“Is that so?” Jiyong said. “Let’s sleep then.”

“Okay,” I said.

There was an awkward silence filling the lines. “I miss you, baby girl,” he said suddenly.

I smiled but I didn’t respond. We were just together this afternoon and he missed me already. How sweet is that?

“Let’s go out tomorrow,” he offered.

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, let’s watch an action movie. I know you wanted to watch one the first time we got out,” he said.

“Okay then,” I agreed.

“In the meantime, I’m going to dream about you,” he said, yawning. “Weird, you’re voice sounds so much like a lullaby. I love the sound of your voice, Dara.” He yawned again.

I smiled.

“Good night, baby girl,” he said as he yawned once more. Then I heard some steady breathing from the other end.

Oh, he fell asleep. How adorable!

“Good night, baby boy,” I whispered then hung up.

It was now four in the morning. I just finished questioning Senator Lee Kyung Wan. A while ago, after the call with Jiyong, I convinced Sajang-nim to let me interrogate Senator Lee Kyung Wan. I thought that it was worth a try. I promised him not to dare hurt the criminal senator. I even went as far as waking the senator just to get some information from him.

However, I hate to admit it. Sajang-nim was right. Senator Lee Kyung Wan refused to cooperate.

“Why would I cooperate with guys who caught me?” he had said a while ago.

That was the statement that made me lose my patience. I was successfully holding it in for a while but I totally lost it when he said that. I remembered losing control and attacking him by gripping his collar and almost punching him.

Thankfully though, Agent Seungri and Agent Seunghyun stopped me.

“I told you not to do that,” Sajang-nim said.

I pounded my fist. “We could have gotten information from that damn criminal guy! If you could have-“

“What did I tell you a while ago? We weren’t certain yet that he might be involved. We’ll get in trouble if we-“

“All you care is your reputation!”

He pounded his fist too. Sometimes I wonder if he’s really my real father. We act alike especially when angry.

“I am protecting the agency and my agents! I am not protecting my own reputation!”

I should just shut up now. I don’t want to lose control, again. So, I walked out. When I was on the hallway walking towards my office, I heard some footsteps following me. I turned and was face-to-face with Agent Seungri and Agent Seunghyun. They abruptly stopped as they saw the intensity raging in my eyes.

“Stop following me!” I shouted.

“Sajang-nim ordered us to follow you in case you-“

I cut Agent Seungri off when I turned my back on them and let them follow me. I sat on my desk massaging my temples. I closed my eyes as the throbbing pain in my temples worsened.

“Perhaps you want a cup of coffee?” Agent Seunghyun’s voice entered my ears. I opened my eyes as a cup of coffee was place neatly in front of me. I stared at it then to Agent Seunghyun who quickly looked away.

I stood up from my chair. “I don’t have time for coffee break. Agent Seungri, let’s go to Gyeongju,” I said as I passed by Agent Seunghyun whose face fell.

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poster credits to nanaISyeoni